Smart presents 10 finalists in 2013 SWEEP Awards

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications Inc. has short-listed 10 entries out of 112 innovative wireless applications received from engineering students of partner schools nationwide, all vying for top honors in the 9th SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards.

With this year’s theme of “Technology in Nation-building,” the awards program aims to develop applied wireless solutions that would enhance and develop the capacity of people to improve their lives.  Criteria used in arriving at the best 10 applications include being innovative, community-based, sustainable, and having technology-focus in the areas of health, education, livelihood, environment, disaster preparedness and response, media, power and energy, transportation, communications and agriculture.

SWEEP partner schools from Luzon dominated this year’s finalists with seven entries making it to the top 10.

These are the Automatic Detection of Traffic Density and Systematic Market Application for Real-time Trading (SMART), both entries from De La Salle-Lipa; LowCal and Botica On-the-Go of Ateneo de Manila University; Smart H.E.A.D. (Helmet Engineered for Accidents and Disasters) from Tarlac State University; Arduino-based Switching Device for Electrical Appliances using Multiple Wireless Communication via Android mobile phone from Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba; and Early Detection of Leptospira Bacteria through Matlab from Bulacan State University.

The finalists from Mindanao are Wordify: A Selected Language Translator Using Digital Image Processing and Doc. Banana: A Digital Image Processing Approach for Early Banana Diseases Detection, both from the University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City; and Fly Smart of South Cotabato’s Notre Dame of Marbel University.

The teams that made it to the top 10 will have a chance to undergo a mentoring session with representatives of the various business units of Smart, its sister-companies and partners. 

During the activity, the teams will have a chance to fine-tune their concepts before developing their prototypes for final judging.

The bootcamp will be held on Oct. 5 at the Meralco Management and Leadership Development Center.

The 10 top teams will exhibit their prototypes — both device and mobile application — and defend their projects to a panel of judges during the finals. 

The top three winning teams will be awarded cash prizes with equivalent grants for their schools. First prize is P500,000; second prize, P200,000; and third prize, P100,000.

SWEEP or the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program is the industry’s first-of-a-kind partnership between the telco and the academe that aims to harness the potential of engineering students in the country as well as equip engineering schools and universities with the tools to make their students well-versed with the latest technologies and trends.